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City hopes new bus lane will relieve clogged roadBy SCOTT T. HARTZELL © St. Petersburg Times, published June 10, 1998 The little city's commercial and social nexus includes such businesses as Publix, Eckerd Drugs and Gigi's Italian Restaurant. County buses stop there 39 times a day Monday through Saturday, clogging the boulevard between Oleander Way and Pasadena Avenue, the feeder to north St. Pete Beach. "It makes you wonder why there aren't more accidents there," said Naylor, the city's public safety chief who is pushing an idea he says will improve the flow of traffic. Naylor envisions a bus pullout bay lane, or curb cut, on Gulfport Boulevard that creates a temporary third lane and enables buses to remove themselves from traffic flow as they load and unload passengers. Naylor's idea is to place the bus lane about 150 feet west of the shopping center entrance. With the backing of Mayor Fred Held and the City Commission and help from the Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority, Naylor hopes to see the pullout operational by the end of summer. "This is a safety issue, (and) this is the best way to handle the situation," he said. Naylor said that as buses stop in Gulfport Boulevard's right, eastbound lane in front of the shopping center, they create a blind spot for drivers directly behind them. These drivers, Naylor continued, often attempt to pass the parked buses. When they do, they sometimes find themselves on course with cars exiting the shopping center or westbound cars turning left into the center. From 1997 to date, 57 accidents have been reported on this section of the boulevard, according to the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office. The bus lane would be about 12 feet wide and 100 to 150 feet long, said Mike Siebel, PSTA's director of planning. Additional space, Siebel said, would be needed for a bus stop shelter. The curb cut will require the cooperation of PSTA, the city, the county and the shopping center's operator. Although Gulfport Boulevard is a county road, the county won't be funding the project's proposed $8,000 cost. "We don't build these kind of facilities for cities," said Keith Wicks, the county's director of public works. "We'll work with them (South Pasadena) on the permitting side." So Naylor will be looking to the city to finance the project. He said he hopes to approach the commission for its approval before it breaks July 7 for summer recess. "I really believe we can find the funding in our present budget for this," Held said. "This is a safety factor. It's important to get this off the ground." Equitable Real Estate of Atlanta, owner of the shopping center property, also must approve the project, Naylor said. The Sembler Co., which manages the shopping center for Equitable, is awaiting that approval. Naylor is optimistic. "We now have enough interest, and we're receiving more and more comments from businesses and others that this is an unsafe area," he said. "We're getting close on this."
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OUTH PASADENA -- As he spoke, Bill Naylor pointed on a sketch to the section of Gulfport Boulevard that fronts Pasadena Shopping Center.
